Rebuilding Lives with Ret. Brigadier General Tom Landwermeyer, President/CEO of Homes For Our Troops , Ret. Staff Sergeant USAF Keith Sekora, & Ret. Master Sergeant USAF Christopher Aguilera

Airmen Helping Airmen

Tom Landwermeyer, President/CEO of Homes For Our Troops, Ret. Staff Sergeant USAF Keith Sekora, and Ret. Master Sergeant USAF Christopher Aguilera, join the Airmen Helping Airmen Podcast by Kaleth Wright to discuss life after retirement, physical therapy, and settling down in homes built for warriors.

Key facts

• Tom's LinkedIn
• Keith’s LinkedIn
• Christopher’s HFOT profile
• Homes for Our Troops’ Website
• President/CEO of Homes For Our Troops, Tom Landwermeyer was an Armor Second Lieutenant in 1976, and in 1981 he became an Army Aviator. He has spent 33 years in the United States Army as Deputy Commanding General of 2d Infantry Division, a key staff member at the U.S. Transportation Command, U.S. Forces Japan, and got to the peak of his career as an Army Staff at the Pentagon. He has worked in various countries, including the United States, Germany, Japan, Bosnia, Iraq, and Korea. He worked on the Army Staff at the Pentagon in 2009 as a civilian in the Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army. He became the Chief Operating Officer for the Armed Services YMCA in 2011. In 2017 he became the President/CEO of Homes For Our Troops.
• Keith Sekora of Homes For Our Troops was a Staff Sergeant who spent 17½ years in the military, first with the US Army, then with the US Air Force. He medically retired in 2012 after being badly injured in Afghanistan. Air Force Staff Sergeant Keith Sekora began serving his country in various ways in 1988. His career began when he enlisted with the United States Army and served there for ten years before leaving to achieve his dream of becoming a law enforcement police officer. Three years later, after the 9/11 attacks, Keith again felt called to serve his country and enlisted in the United States Air Force Reserves as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technician. During his recovery from the war injuries he sustained during his second combat deployment as an EOD combatant with the 20th Special Forces Group in Afghanistan, he got introduced to Archery. He has been in love with it ever since and is now a coach and team member who competes nationally and internationally as a Next Step Archery Wounded Warrior of the USA Para Archery team.
• Christopher Aguilera of Homes For Our Troops was a Master Sergeant who joined the military after his college plans fell through. Having always loved planes, he decided to join the Air Force. In the mid-’90s, he enlisted and deployed to Korea, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and Africa and had several additional deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. On June 9, 2010, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, during his third combat mission of the day, MSGT Aguilera, serving as a Special Mission Aviator, was answering a medevac request to pick up a wounded British Commando when his helicopter was shot down. He sustained life-threatening injuries after being pinned by the aircraft’s transmission. After his leg amputation and recovery, he competed in several Warrior Games and the first Invictus Games, winning several gold, silver, and bronze medals. In January 2015, he retired from the military after 23 years of honorable service to the USA.

Key takeaways

• Homes For Our Troops (HFOT) is a publicly funded 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that builds and donates specially adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post-9/11 Veterans to enable them to rebuild their lives. These homes restore some of the freedom and independence our Veterans sacrificed while defending our country and allow them to focus on their family, recovery, and rebuilding their lives. Since its inception in 2004, nearly 90 cents out of every dollar spent has gone directly to our program services for Veterans. HFOT builds these homes where the Veteran chooses to live and continues its relationship with the Veterans after home delivery to assist them with rebuilding their lives.
• Since 2004, HFOT have built and donated 324 homes in 42 states, got more than a hundred severely injured veterans in the application process of our program, have 73 projects currently ongoing, and have more than a thousand more severely injured veterans that would qualify for our program.
• HFOT creates a community for veterans to still engage in physical activities despite their injuries. Although most Veterans under the care of HFOT sustained injuries including multiple limb amputations, partial or total paralysis, and/or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), they are opportune to participate in adaptive sports known as Warrior Games. These games include archery to track and field events, swimming, seated volleyball, and much more.
• To be eligible for our program, our injured Veterans first have to qualify for the VA housing grant; a Veteran must be approved for the Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) benefits by the Veterans Administration. There is also a list of requirements needed to be eligible for the HFOT program, a few of which include having sustained injuries in the theater of the Iraq-Afghanistan war, post 9/11/01, and being retired or in the process of retiring from military service.
• Homes For Our Troops is 100% publicly funded, with approximately 65 percent of our operational budget generated by individual donors, private and family foundations, and community fundraisers nationwide. The remaining 35% comes from corporate supporters in cash and donated materials.
• What makes HFOT unique is that they provide Veterans with the opportunity to choose where they want to build a home and live and help them every step of the way, and we stay in contact with every one of these Veterans and their families afterward.
• Be a beacon of hope to people around you.
• Express gratitude; It’s easy to take the little things for granted.
• Having a community helps significantly with the healing process. Infuse yourself with one.
• Outstanding leadership goes a long way in determining the well-being of subordinates.
• Choose a cause and be dedicated to it. The people you’re helping will be grateful for your thoughtfulness and dedication to it.

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Quotes

“Never give up. Just keep moving forward. You’re not alone.”

Airmen Helping Airmen is hand crafted by our friends over at: fame.so
Previous guests include:Errol Doebler, John Osarczuk of FirstCommand , Jared Metcalfe, Rich Diviney, Ginger Miller, Thomas Connally, Kara Taylor, Kathleen McMahon, Jennifer Pasquale Dr. Geri Lynn Maples, Haley McClain Hill, Amanda Huffman, Lizann Lightfoot, Tom Landwermeyer, Diane Rauch, Kim Nahom, Kristen Christy, Jai Salters, The AFAF Campaign, Shermaine Perry-Knights and Lacey Langford.
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